In the past, solar cells and batteries have been used within lighting units to provide illumination within gardens and along pathways. The known lighting units frequently included a light sensor which would trigger the operation/engagement of conventional incandescent light sources, once a level of darkness or the absence of light had been detected by the sensor for a set period of time.
In the past, the lighting units frequently provided a short or limited useful life due to the degradation of the battery sources over time when exposed to daily recharge from the solar cells. In addition, the conventional light sources as known were inefficient, requiring a large amount of energy from the batteries in order to provide a desired level of illumination. The energy draw by the conventional light sources frequently depleted stored energy within the batteries in a few hours of time, resulting in the dimming and shut down of the known lighting units.
Also in the past, the known lighting units frequently failed to include a programmable timer to regulate the duration of time in which a lighting unit would provide illumination. To satisfy this need individuals frequently obtained light sources which were continuously activated and powered through a wired connection. In the known devices individuals would insert and external timer device at a desired location somewhere along the wired connection between the electrical source and the lighting unit.
The lighting units as known also were formed of one-piece integral construction where the components of the lighting units were not easily separated from the unit as a whole, rendering replacement problematic, which also limited the flexibility and usefulness of the lighting unit to an individual.
The art referred to and/or described above is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(a) exists.
All U.S. patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, a brief description of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72.